Counting the homeless in Loveland

A preliminary count from point-in-time 2013 indicated 117 are living in Loveland

By Shelley Widhalm Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
01/26/2013 04:02:19 PM MST

Eric Paul and his dog Lucky soak up some sunshine Friday while sitting at the Peters Pocket Park in downtown Loveland. Like many other homeless people in Loveland, the two are doing their best to survive the winter.
(
Jenny Sparks
)

Because 39-year-old Eric Paul has a dog, he cannot stay at the 137 Homeless Connection night shelter during cold weather, so he sleeps in a tent.

Luckily, Lucky, a 4-year-old catahoula, serves as a good watchdog against intruders and other animals.

The team of 14 counted and interviewed sheltered and unsheltered individuals and families within city limits as part of a larger statewide count required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD wants to identify the local needs for services and programs, to measure the progress in ending homelessness and to raise public awareness.

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is overseeing the count and reporting the final results to HUD.

The point-in-time count tallied the sheltered homeless, but Hade and Ashbaugh counted both sheltered and unsheltered individuals to achieve a more comprehensive count. The count of both populations is required every other year.

The count in Loveland involved three components, including:

Homeless shelters, such as the 137 Connection night shelter at rotating churches and the Angel House church partners that shelter homeless families; transitional housing through the House of Neighborly Service and Alternatives to Violence; and permanent supportive housing with access to mental health services and other resources.

The street by checking cars, parks and tents by knocking on doors and going to homeless campsites.

Service-based locations, such as the Loveland Community Kitchen, House of Neighborly Service and Alternatives to Violence, conducted Wednesday to Friday.

"The goal is to determine where people were sleeping that night," Hade said. "We could have done that without putting volunteers in danger. It requires volunteers to actually go out after dark and poke around to determine where someone is sleeping."

Those Left Out

Ashbaugh, who works with the homeless population on a regular basis at the 137 Connection, had to prep those he knew about the paper survey. He let them know that the survey was for HUD and not to inform law enforcement of campsites and other public places where they sleep.

"It won't capture all of the homeless people staying in Loveland, like those staying at a friend's house that evening," Hade said. "This doesn't even begin to count people who sleep in sheds and garages."

Plus, there are those in hiding, like Martha, a 38-year-old single woman living in a tent who cannot reveal her last name for reasons of personal security. Like Paul, she has a dog, a German shepherd rescue, and cannot stay in a shelter.

"I went from having a normal life to this," Martha said about having a day care business and a home before she escaped a domestic violence situation. "People think of homeless as dirty and gross. I'm not dirty and gross."

Wendy Blankenship, a volunteer at 137 Connection, used to be homeless.

"People seem to think you need to be dirty to be homeless," Blankenship said.

Another misconception is that the homeless are in that situation for drugs and alcohol abuse, which often isn't the case, Ashbaugh said.

"There's lots of other issues," Ashbaugh said, listing mental illness, legal issues, lack of work and the high cost of rent as factors.

Ashbaugh and his staff will not kick anyone out of the night shelter for alcohol abuse (indicated by a nightly Breathalyzer test), unless there are ongoing behavioral issues linked with the drinking.

In four years, Ashbaugh has had to put three people on a list requiring they blow a zero on the test before they could stay in the shelter.

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